Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-04-09
HIST TO SEE JOE.
sad Story of an Insane "o'h-
ers Flight.

(oklh sa tna old and pathetic lines so
II make them read:
over the hills from the poor mouse S,a
over ,r.sndered alone there to de-
on have the nucleus OF quite as
and sensational story as mas oeen
- the public for some Tune
~ the story OF mind demehIeu,
nhysioally wrecked-a "onlahs
w she was only pauperi pool'
w creature living upon the sunra-e
har townspeople ana passIns EoI
.nrv DAYS and more melancholy nis tha
Fshst establishment PROVIDED Wy LUG
ordians OF all the townships Vi oui
nwealth-the poor mousse.
bmagIne a scene sometnlhR nee .ni
uaiA round the dilapidated looking
FnIeI: away I'D among the bills of
~ "a The wind roars and hOWls as
ESQ., tbe very demons themselves were
usd and tearing about IN their Jury,
'.t"a whom they might dev0ur ana the
o. beatinR and piling up hlgher ana
y" wv och moment against the WINDOW
The keeper and his VIE are
us. through one of the wlncows
prt light is streaming - a Hght
h ~ ond dim as the lie thatl is WITHIN,
.nring like the flicker of the lamp, ana
w. Of the first strong gust 10 go OUT
Gor In the room as seen by tne olm
LIZ an AGED woman is dying, ana by her
rockinQ to and fro, aud starting
~ now and then as the Wlnd In us
ri tnrx rattles the lOosened easement.
uoman. One look at her race is
ls,"iont 10 indicate that she IS weak
LILY as well as bodily. suddenly
800 woman stirs and asks for her
pe3ioina. The attendant gets 1t from the
,Io tabIe. administers it, and the pa
tnt drons hack again upon The pillow.
Fusidar the scene and the surroundings.
dving woman and an insane attend
H.! , .,,s .so
WAS mdnight-all was slumoer' ana the
lone light o.h e. hrook tho
Presently the sick woman appears to
kop into a sleep. Ihen the SIIenuanC
III A pIeam of intelligence shoots
sross her countenance, She tiptoes to
T. nod and peers down into the face OF
H. sIaaner. but the latter minds not her
ssance. she listens. The house Is still;
Iere il not a sound save the roaring OF
r. wind. The hour that she has been
Eating for has arrived. For months and
pnnths she has been necessarily impl0r-
t. the authorities to permit her TO go
lime. Poor thingi In her halluclnatlon
Te imagined she had home. The poor
[nse was her only home, but fortunately
er her. her mind was not strong enough
realize it. And now the thought comes
4 her; here is her opportunity. Re
boSing her shoes she steals 10 the VIM
|bg and opeGs it. A gust of wind drives
4 huge volumes Of loose snow. The H.
|ald ON the bed opened her eyes only TO
h. Inc weak-miuded woman in the act OF
bringing through the window and to
ar the one word from her exultant lips,
wild, weird, maniacal cry:
FREE! FREE"
And she is gone.
Gone out into the wild night to roam
bout IN the storm; to rush on and on,
gith no object save to getaway. She did
lot, nor could not have known that every
len she TOOK from the farm house brought
er farther away from life and nearer 10
eriain death. There were no houses
lear by that she could have gone to, and
be never could live through the night,
lad as she was, so scanUly. An hour
iterward and the keeper entered the sick
com. The sick woman was in the death
hrOes, but before she passed away she
managed TO gasp:
"Abbie-gone; the-windOw-"a and she
lied,
The keeper is Mr.. George Vaughn. be
put on his great coat and
tarted out, but no trace OF the fugitive
insane woman could be found. She had
led into the woods, and there perlshed in
be snow drifts. Farmers all through the
ills were around before morning and
Questioned concerning the missing
Woman, but none Of them had seen heT.
Al the succeeding day the woods and
ills were scoured-that is where the
riffs would permit-but DO signs of the
Woman could be found. She had dIsap-
eared as completely as though she had
zen disem bodied spirit.
That was on the night OF March 3, and
few days 1t became evident that it
vas useless to further continue the search
mil the spring rains ana warm winds
hould melt the huge quantities Of snow
nat then buried the summit and sides Of
he series Of ranges of hills in that To-
atty.
The dying woman had SAID that Abble
lad gone. the fun name WAS Abbie
dDdsley. She was about 40 years OF age,
md has son living who is about 16. 1t
vas to see this boy that the mother was
Lways craving to 20 nome. She wanted
o see Tim. This was what she harped
"a BY day and by nj hit.
II want to see Joe; 1 want to see joe"
vas her constant cry.
Joe, poor fellow. is a veritable son of
rs mother. Like her, he is not strong
mentally. This, however, is more due to
u lsct that his mind has never been de.
e'oped than TO any other cause. He
'oIKs out to the neighboring farmers and
CAN MILK A COW,
md knows how to do the chores, as he
eIms 1t, as we'll as anybody, but beyond
lsJ his mind IS comparatively dark. He
vent TO school once for a week, but the
'her boys leased him 80 that he could
ever be induced to give his attendance
uTluer, And in this wise he has grown
y until Today be is a man physically
VI, as innocent as a child mentally.
ven, when little Joe was 2 or years
va MS father died. The family up to
la' tlme Were getting along swimmingly,
Wy NE wife and mother gave no evidences
. Insanity. Indeed, If the disease ex-
stu previous to the death Of the husband
was latent. Death, however, developed
:, NO sooner was 1t announced that Nr.
.lnosiey was dead than ais wife went
NO 1ysierla, aud few hours later,
wen she was taken into the death cham
~ sue was seized with sudden terror,
'u'cn Increased with sucn alarming
.9mptoms That she mad TO be removed. A
,e,'od OIL sickness followed, and when at
. SN tne lever had subsidized it was appar-
,1s 70 all der neighbors that Mrs. Linds-
- was "a little qpeer."
a. eEertheless, she continued living on
.%. olo homestead for two or three years
r rsv' ner husbands death, which, by the
10y, was some twelve years ago. In the
1Nhhllme the farm hpQau m lao no gIocfod